**Sebastian's POV**

A knot of worry tightened in my stomach as I scanned the classroom, searching for Elizabeth. Her empty desk taunted me, an unsettling absence that felt uncomfortable and wrong. Elizabeth had never missed class, not even on days when illness threatened to keep her home. Studying was her only way of distracting herself from life's worries, and she fiercely protected it.

I felt the weight of silence press down on me, knowing I couldn't approach any of her classmates for ...